A second application has been made to extend delivery times at the new Lidl store in Dorking.

The shop in Vincent Lane opened in August despite concerns voiced by neighbours about traffic, with deliveries allowed between 7.30am and 8pm, Mondays to Saturdays.

An application to extend deliveries to Sundays and bank holidays was rejected and residents have branded it a ‘real shame’ that, despite the store doing good business, the company has again tried to alter planning conditions.

The new application would see deliveries made between 10am and 4pm on Sundays and bank holidays.

In an email to Mole Valley District Council, Lidl’s acquisitions manager, Dave Thomas, wrote: “Further to the refused deliveries application 7.30am to 8pm on bank holidays, and 8am to 1pm on Sundays, we discussed the situation with a number of local residents at the preview evening the day before the Lidl store opened. We made it clear that we had been left with no choice but to appeal the refusal, and as a compromise the local residents suggested that it was the early morning deliveries that were a problem, and rather than risk us securing 7.30/8am deliveries at appeal, they would prefer to agree to a later delivery window, which they would accept.”

The company submitted a noise assessment, which had been prepared for an appeal of the first decision. Mr Thomas said the results of the new application would be awaited before lodging an appeal.

Rob Bonn, who has acted as a spokesman for residents throughout the planning process, said: “Residents are not supportive of this application, particularly as this is now the third time of asking and, again, nothing has changed.

“We’ve stated all along that we’re not opposed to Lidl being there or being a commercial success. But in the context of very successful trading, repeatedly asking residents and the council to reconsider one of the basic conditions agreed at the initial planning stage is a real shame. It’s not very neighbourly of them.

“Our arguments at the planning stage centred around a sensible give-and-take. Clearly deliveries need to be made and, at the same time, clearly residents can put up with a certain amount of antisocial noise, reversing sirens and clattering pallets etc, and traffic disruption, but the basic agreement was that Sundays and bank holidays were days off from that.”

Despite extensive debate during the process, a further application have been made for an illuminated flagpole, as well as a retrospective application for billboards.

Mr Bonn said: “Again, as the store is trading very well, it's difficult to explain why they are so keen to repeatedly push against the council’s own stated aims of reducing energy consumption and carbon footprint, not to mention the character of the town and being immediately adjacent to a conservation area. As for the billboards, building them and only then asking for permission is pretty cheeky. We’re not sure if this type of sharp practice is typical but, again, it does not suggest the kind of balanced, community-minded relationship we thought we had established.”